There are two certainties following nearly every mass shooting event: Cable news television will have its programming schedule set for the next 72 hours, and a significant number of gun control advocates will reveal they lack even a basic understanding of the items they wish to regulate.

The first certainty is to be expected. After all, if it bleeds it leads. The second certainty is more remarkable.

Its remarkable that so many proponents of stricter regulations appear to be generally ignorant of not just the minutiae of firearms, but also the basics. Its also remarkable that this ignorance continues unabated, even after several recent mass shootings.

Journalists Adam Weinstein and Zack Beauchamp defend the generally ill-informed, claiming some in the pro-Second Amendment camp prefer to bully rather than educate those who dont fully grasp the topic.

It’s not ignorance as much as it is another attempt to twist language to mean other than what it means.
The left has done this with homosexuality and illegal aliens becoming gay and undocumented immigrants.

Make it a REQUIRED course of study, sames as learning to read English or to do simple mathematical computations, that ALL youth undertake instruction, starting somewhere around the age of twelve, and certainly before completing high school, in the care, feeding, grooming and correct methods of handling firearms of all kinds, from pistols to semi-automatic rifles and pump shotguns.

This has a two-fold benefit - it demystifies firearms to the vast majority of youth who may never have opportunity to actually SEE a firearm up close, and it prepares these youth with some useful information as how to use these weapons in a controlled environment. Some small portion will turn out to be far too careless, or afflicted with malicious intent, to ever be trusted with a weapon, and it would be far easier to identify those early on in such a setting.

As a corollary, and with the same objective, also training these youth about how to deal with the presence of an armed intruder with malice in mind, whether it be escape, evasion, or even how to distract the assailant to the point he may be disarmed or disabled, would be a constructive step to take to limit future mass shootings.

And for the sake of everybody involved, remove the designation of “gun-free zone” from public spaces everywhere. That is just an invitation for the gunman to come in for target practice, knowing there would not be any return fire.

The Universe is a cruel and unforgiving place. Deal with it.

15
posted on 03/14/2018 2:03:57 PM PDT
by alloysteel
(There are old pilots, and there are bold pilots. There are no old, bold pilots.)

No one would ever accept this level of ignorance and dishonesty in a similarly serious and emotionally charged debate.

No one would cheer if a pundit said its easier to get a late-term abortion than Sudafed. His audience would ask to see his homework. No one would shrug it off if a legislator incorrectly referred to a trimester as a semester. No one would ignore it if a pro-life senatorial candidate explained his position on abortions in cases of rape and incest with a response that included something about the human body rejecting legitimate rape.

Hell, no one would accept this level of ignorance from a traffic report. If a journalist referred to a pickup truck as an auto-style speedbox, he would rightly be laughed off the air.

17
posted on 03/14/2018 2:23:18 PM PDT
by NobleFree
("law is often but the tyrant's will, and always so when it violates the right of an individual")

The goal of the left during the Cold War era was to saturate America with as much rot as possible so that we in essence destroy ourselves. Mission accomplished without firing a single shot even though the Soviet Union collapsed. America very well will collapse if the stupid people keep on having a say and running things as good people idly do nothing.

18
posted on 03/14/2018 2:39:22 PM PDT
by shanover
(...To disarm the people is the best and most effectual way to enslave them.-S.Adams)

Sorry, but I disagree. They are not ignorant in the least. They lie, and they lie, and they lie some more to gain power. That is the only thing they are interested in. If they were simply ignorant they would occasionally be correct if only by mistake.

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